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No bread is an island

...entire of itself. (With apologies to John Donne!)

I live and breathe breadmaking. I’m an evangelist who would like everyone to make his or her own bread. I want to demystify breadmaking and show it as the easy everyday craft that it is. To this end I endeavour to make my recipes as simple and as foolproof as I possibly can.

I call my blog 'No bread is an island' because every bread is connected to another bread. So a spicy fruit bun with a cross on top is a hot cross bun. This fruit dough will also make a fruit loaf - or Chelsea buns or a Swedish tea ring...

I'm also a vegan, so I have lots of vegan recipes on here - and I'm adding more all the time.

About Me

Torn away from the bosom of my family at the tender age of 18 - and never lived in my home town of Blackburn again. The RAF took me to HK; After a hitch of four years I emigrated to Australia and joined the RAAF, which took me to HK where I met my wife of 43 years. I then joined GCHQ which took me (us, with 2 children now) back to HK. Retired at 55, trained as a teacher of adults, gained a 2:1 in Teaching and Training at Plymouth Uni (which I thought went well with the 2 'O' levels with which I left school). And I've been teaching breadmaking ever since. Now running 6 or 7 classes a week, plus the odd Saturday workshop. My passion is breadmaking - or perhaps I should say the teaching of breadmaking; I'm also very interested in early development; And I like to cook - but I consider myself to be pretty average. I have a wife, two children, a daughter-in-law and a son-in-law and three grandchildren, (who can all make bread) who come and stay with us in the holidays and half-terms. Away from my family, I'm happiest teaching a Family Learning group, with parents and children, none of whom have made bread before. I get a real buzz out of turning people onto breadmaking.

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Friday, 31 May 2013

Thursday 30th May 2013I'd forgotten all about this post!We've had the grandchildren here all week, and made several batches of rolls which I wasn't bothered about posting about - but these I have to share with you.My daughter (their Auntie Emma) is 6 months pregnant, and the kids are fascinated - especially Alfie, who's now 7. (Just to tell you how interested he is in pregnancy - he's absolutely gutted that his two older sisters are allowed to watch ''One born every minute', and he isn't!)I'd demonstrated how to shape a tadpole or a mouse with a bread dough, and Alfie, I thought, was following suit...

...albeit going a bit overboard with the tail!

"What's that, then, Alfie?" I asked, expecting him to say 'mouse', or 'tadpole'. "It's an umbilical cord, granddad," he replied, matter-of-factly.But he hadn't finished with it - here's his final shaping, with an unusually coloured flower (we had no green food colouring):

On the left is Alfie's final version of an umblical cord - at the top is a reindeer dropping (which will be painted with chocolate spread after baking). And the two rolls on the right are pain au chocolat.

And this is what can happen if you take your eye off the ball!

I have an oft-repeated saying - "If you can't make a mess when you're breadmaking, when can you make a mess?"
Not sure I had this in mind!

Monday 9th April 2012.Alfie again made some spicy fruit buns with me for them to take home with them.

We made 16 - smaller ones than last time. You'll need to ask my wife where the missing one is!

The grandchildren had a had a young friend visit them today, Elsbeth, who'd never made bread before. So it was decided we should rectify this situation and make some bread while she had the chance.The choices were pain au chocolat, jam doughnuts, iced buns or fancy dinner rolls and shapes - they chose fancy shapes that can be turned into iced buns.

So Olivia, Alfie and Elsbeth lined up at the worktop and here's how it turned out:

A sweetened dough made with 1 mug of flour - dividing it into smaller pieces

Olivia's rolling out her dough

There's Alfie mugging up to the camera

More dividing and shaping

Yet more...

Now there are some real shapes

Finishing touches

Clipping a hedgehog's spikes

A whirl

I think this is going to be Olivia's reindeer poo

All the finished bread - proving

Olivia's (at the top) and Alfie's bread. Elsbeth had to take her rolls home to finish them off. We'll ice these in the morning.

Whilst the bread was proving and baking, the youngsters all helped to clear away (with Olivia explaining to Elsbeth that this was the worst part of breadmaking! :) ). Still, she did it willingly enough.I had to go over everything with a cloth and a brush, but at least they did the most of it.

Tuesday, 28 May 2013

Saturday 11th May 2013The students on my 2013 Hornblotton course all decided they'd like to make a sourdough loaf on the 2nd session (of two) - so, not being as expert as I would like to be, I've been studying the subject all week.I posted a request for help and support on two forums that I frequent, and got some good advice. I also turned to a former student of mine who has really gone to town with sourdough over the past year or so - he was also very helpful.I gave my students the basic method of putting together a sourdough starter, but thought, as a backup, I'd better make enough starter for everyone - just in case!I began on the Monday evening, mixing 25g each Doves Malthouse flour (sieved to remove the wheat berries) and Rye flour, plus 50g Doves Organic Wholemeal flour with 200g of boiled water. I placed this in a 500g Kilner jar (without the rubber seal so that it's not airtight)Starter:25g Doves Malthouse flour (sieved) 25g rye flour50g Doves wholemeal200g boiled water, cooled

1.3kg of starter almost fills the 2.8L food storer

I posted this on "The Fresh Loaf" and "The Food Board", two of the forums I use:"...I began making my starter on Monday, by Tuesday evening it was active, and I've been dividing and feeding it ever since.

ATM I've got 1.3ltrs of active starter - which I could easily double by Sunday. I'm not sure, as I write, how many students will turn up with their own starter on Sunday, so mine may have to suffice for all.My gut feeling is that I should refresh the starter on Saturday evening, then, on the Sunday we should go for a small loaf for each student, comprising 50% starter.

1.32kg of starter (2:1 water to flour), refreshed with 440g of flour and no liquid, would give me 1760g of starter, at a ratio of 1:1, wouldn't you agree?

This amount divided by 10 students = 170g of starter. To make a loaf with a 62.5% hydration (normal 1lb flour to 10fl oz water), we'd need to add 115g flour and 40g water.

It's only a small loaf, I know, but I've only got 1 domestic oven and 5 small (size of a microwave) ovens to work with.

I figure if we make up the sourdough first thing on Sunday morn, then leave it through the day, it may well be ready to bake sometime in the afternoon. If it's not, then the students would have to take it home to bake it.

One further question - between now and Saturday, would you recommend me refreshing the starter (and discarding half?)

What do you guys think?"And received a lot of good advice!This morning I added 440g of flour to the starter and left it for three hours. Then I took out 100g of starter and added 150g of white flour and 75g water, plus a quarter of a teaspoon of salt and 25g of olive oil.This was a little more moist than I wanted, so I added a dessertspoon of flour, and kneaded it for a minute or two. I shaped it into a small oval, then placed it on some baking parchment and covered it with the scale pan.This was then left for four hours while I went for a swim and did some supermarket shopping.About 6 in the evening, with the oven on for dinner, I placed the loaf in the oven and baked it for 25 or so minutes at 220C.

It's very nearly got the 'flying saucer' look about it, but I think I've just got away with it!

And here's the crumb. Judging by this, another hour or so's proving would have perhaps been better - but, I'm pretty pleased with it even so. I wait to hear what my supportive (both internet and real life) friends have to say about it.

On the day everything went very well - better than I could have expected, in that each student made 2 sourdough loaves, one with my starter and one the students had made.We had enormous fun with it - and with the rest of the breads we made.The next day, encouraged by my success, and having a large supply of starter on hand I decided to make a couple of batches of sourdough - a chocolate and beetroot loaf, which I'd made before, and some Chelsea buns.

Chocolate and beetroot - put to prove

Risen and ready to bake

I found a jar of mincemeat in the fridge which needed using up, so I spread the dough with the mincemeat before rolling up - lovely!

Only 40 minutes in the oven - for a 1.3kg loaf I don't think that was long enough. Difficult to tell this loaf by colour!

The crumb

[I need to put my recipe for the loaf on here - I wrote it down somewhere, but can't find it ATM. However, I'll get a recipe up here eventually. Ditto the Chelseas]

Sunday, 26 May 2013

I'll try and remember to take a photo of the crumb when we cut into it - tomorrow, at my daughter's

Going to see my daughter and her husband tomorrow, so I thought I'd make some bread to take up with me.Her husband is a great fan of soda bread - and both he and my daughter also like Malthouse flour (Malthouse is Doves version of Granary flour), so I thought I would combine the two.I've been putting more and more olive oil in my soda breads recently - it does improve the crust especially, IMO. And the focaccia treatment of pouring olive oil into holes on top of the loaf does make a difference.Finally, I used the undercover method with this loaf.Ingredients:400g Malthouse flour4 tsps (25g approx) baking powder5g salt250g water50g Extra virgin olive oilMethod:

1. Since the baking powder begins working as soon as it comes into contact with the water, it is essential to have everything ready before mixing the dough. So, heat the oven to 220C, 425F, gas mark 7 and either grease your baking sheet or line it with baking parchment.

2. Place the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl, add the baking powder and stir the dry ingredients to mix them evenly. When the oven is hot, add the water, then the olive oil and begin mixing with a palette knife or similar.

3. Turn it out onto a lightly floured worktop, knead it firmly several times, then mould it into a cob shape, roll it out into a large circle, about 2cm thick and place it on your prepared baking sheet. (With practice you can get the mixing and shaping done in less than two minutes.)

4. Press your fingertips into the dough, making large indentations, and drizzle oil all over the dough and into the holes.

5. Bake in the centre of the oven for 25-30 minutes, turning at intervals if necessary.

6. The loaf is ready when it has a good colour underneath and a skewer comes out clean. You may need to put it back in, upside down, for a few more minutes. Place to cool on a wire rack.

Undercover method:

At step 5 I covered the dough with a stainless steel roasting dish for the first 10 minutes of baking. This allows the dough to rise that little bit more.

Brush with a glaze made with 1 dessertspoon sugar and 2 dessertspoons boiling water. Sprinkle with sugar. (I haven't counted these calories - you don't need a topping if you're watching your calories!)

Method:

1. Place the flour, sugar, spice and dried fruit into a mixing bowl, and mix to distribute the ingredients. Measure the water and stir in the yeast until it dissolves (dried yeast takes longer to dissolve than fresh). Add the yeast liquid to the dry ingredients, and add the olive oil if using.

2. Have a little water to hand to add if necessary, remember, it is better for your dough to be wetter (slack) rather than drier (tight).

3. Mix into a sticky dough - if it's not sticky add another 25g of water to make it so - and knead for 10-20 seconds.

4. Dip your hands in a little flour and rub off as much of the dough sticking to your hands as you can before you wash them. Invert the bowl over your dough and leave for 10-20 minutes.

5. Knead it again for a short period and leave it as before.

6. Knead for a third time - and this time you should notice that the dough is less and less sticky. Once again leave it for a bit.

7. When you're happy with the dough, leave it - covered - for at least an hour if you can8. When you're ready to proceed, roll the dough out into a rectangle, 40cm by 25cm, with the long edges across in front of you. Brush with oil, leaving a centimetre gap along the bottom edge and sprinkle with the sugar. Roll up the dough towards you, along the long side, as you would a Swiss roll. Cut into 10-12 pieces and place, cut side uppermost on a prepared baking sheet.

9. Cover with a dry tea towel and leave to prove on your worktop until the buns have grown appreciably in size.

10. Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes at 220C 425F or gas mark 7, checking the colour underneath the buns – they should be browned evenly across the bottom. You may need to remove the buns on the outside, which have browned underneath, and replace the others in the oven, upside down if necessary. Brush them with the glaze when they come out of the oven and place on a cooling rack.

9. Place the buns on a piece of baking parchment so that they are just touching. Place the paper on a baking tray and cover with a roasting dish. Leave until the rolls are roughly doubled in size then bake at 220C for 10 minutes before removing the roasting dish. Continue baking until the top of the rolls are browned sufficiently - say 5-10 minutes. Brush them with the glaze when they come out of the oven and place on a cooling rack.Soaking fruit.I'm a great fan of soaking the fruit in water* for several hours - overnight, preferably, and use some of the liquid. Here are 400g of sultanas and chopped, dried, unsulphured apricots:

Pour off as much liquid as possible before adding to the dough - and reduce the liquid amount in the recipe by at least 25ml.

*Tip: Soak the fruit in wine for a few weeks before Christmas - makes a lovely dessert wine.

It began with a call from my Community Co-ordinator, Ruth, "Would you like to run a one-off Family Learning session at Priorswood Primary School in Taunton?"Well, of course I said yes! Family Learning sessions are absolutely my favourite!The day before the class, I got a phone call from Ruth telling me that the head teacher at the school had recruited 20 families - and to make sure I had enough ingredients and bring all my ovens! The usual maximum for this sort of session - where we make some bread rolls in various shapes - is about a dozen, and that's pushing it a bit. So to say I was somewhat taken aback would be a bit of an under-statement!In the event, 21 families turned up! This is by far my largest session - I think I've had 14 in the past, but 21 - that's a challenge.I lined my 5 ovens up at the front of the class, against the wall, so they were out of the way and arranged the tables in a horseshoe arrangement, with the youngsters sitting at the tables and their parents seated behind. I have to tell you it was a bit of a squash in there! Another difficulty was that the school oven was 30 metres away down the corridor!However, with Ruth as my main (only) support, we managed to ensure that everyone was able to make a decent bread dough which they divided into 6 pieces to make their shapes. One of the trickiest considerations is making sure that everyone's bread comes back to them - so I give them all a number to make out of dough and stick on top of one of the rolls. [This doesn't always work, as on Wednesday we had two number 12s - turned out that one should have been number 21! :)]One of the things that determines whether these sessions go well or not is the reaction of the school staff. I have to say that everyone was brilliant - nothing was too much trouble for anyone - secretary, caretakers, teachers, TAs, etc! Even the head teacher came in at one point and asked how she could help! Makes my life a lot easier, I can tell you!I had a lovely surprise when I was setting up the room. A young man who I found out later was the teacher whose room we were using, said, "Where do you want these tables, Paul?" Now we hadn't, at this stage, found out who was who, and I thought for a second, 'How does he know my name?' He turned out to be a youngster I'd last seen about 15 years ago - who was in the same year as my daughter at school! He'd turned into an excellent young man who was another who couldn't do enough for us!Reflections:Although the session could be considered a success - in that I was able to demonstrate to everyone's satisfaction that making bread is an easy, everyday activity, which was my main aim - there were far too many students for me to give each of them the attention they deserved.Everything was rushed - which isn't conducive to good learning. Because all the bread couldn't be baked at the same time, a lot of the batches were ready whilst others were waiting to go into the oven - so students were collecting their bread and wandering off without me knowing. Because of this I was unable to wrap up the session appropriately - there was no summary of the session from me, for example. So that was a bit unsatisfactory.But, at the end of the day, everyone went home with some tasty bread rolls - and there are 42 people who now know that making bread is not the scary thing that many people perceive it to be. So I'm not too unhappy!No pics, I'm afraid - just not enough time!

Friday, 24 May 2013

After a very quiet April, May has been - well, frenetic at times!It began on the first of May with a Family Learning session at Fledglings Pre-school, Bishop Henderson PS with 12 parents and 15 children. I took three of my ovens, and there was one in the venue - so we did the session in 2 shifts.In a busy session like this, I tend to just get the students to make half a dozen bread rolls in a variety of shapes. No pics, I'm afraid. On the 4th of May I fancied a lentil and potato pie (with a bread dough) and also an apple and sultana pie (also with a bread dough).

The savoury pie on the left, the apple pie on the right with a jam pasty made with some leftover doughh

Saturday, 18 May 2013

[Scroll down to Sunday 5th May for the first day's happenings, followed by what happened on the following Sunday.]I'm running a 12-hour course over the first two weekends in May, at a village hall in the village of Hornblotton, near Yeovil, Somerset.In this post I shall detail all the planning involved, plus the story of how the two sessions went, along with photo's both from me and from my students.Here's the letter that has gone out to the students to set the scene:

10th April 2013

Breadmaking made easy workshop,
10.00am - 4.00pm

5th and 12th May at Hornblotton
Village Hall

Dear Student,

This letter sets out what I intend will
happen on the first day and includes a list of items which you will need in the
session. If you are new to breadmaking, let me reassure you that it is much
easier than you may have been led to believe. It is indeed, ‘easy peasy’! Oh,
and it’s also a lot of fun, as you’ll find out!

The session will begin in a relaxed fashion
– the first thing you need to do is to find somewhere at the side of the hall to
park all your stuff, get yourself a drink and a chair to sit on round the
tables in the middle. There is some necessary administration to complete, which
we will go through together. If you need any help with the forms I will be
there to give you a hand, so there’s no need to worry. Bring a pen if you can
remember, although I will have a couple to spare.

Before we start breadmaking I’d like to
spend some time finding out what you expect to get out of the day’s session so
that I can hope to meet all your requirements.

Lunch. We’ll be eating around 12.30-1.00,
and everyone will make their own. All you need to bring is a little cheese –
say 50g – and a tomato or a mushroom.

I’m still working on the programme, but
just to say that during the 2 days we’ll be making many of these breads:

Soda breads

Fancy dinner rolls and freeform loaves

Small filled savoury breads – from sizzlers
through stuffed parathas to pierogis and baozi (Chinese buns)

If you don’t see the bread you’ve always
wanted to make on this list, get in touch and we’ll see how we could fit it in
to the programme.

I have a blog, which
I call “No bread is an island”, in which I write about – among other things –
my teaching practice. On here I’ve started a post, “Hornblotton breadmaking”,
which will include everything about the course, including all my planning:

Please have a
look at this, if you can – plus, check out all the recipes on there, including
those for the breads I’ve already mentioned.

I have several aims for this course, one of
which is that everyone should enjoy themselves! Another is that everyone will make good bread. At any
time during the day the kettle can go on for a mug of tea or coffee. Cost 20p.

I'm sorry if this all sounds too daunting.
Please let me assure you that it will all fall into place quite easily. If you
have any suggestions, (or reservations) at all, please don't hesitate to ring
me, I'm always happy to talk about bread.

Finally, can I draw your attention to the
word ‘Companion’? The ‘com’ part means together – as in community – and the
‘pan’ part of the word means bread. So ‘Companions’ are people who make bread
together! Which is what we shall be doing over these two Sundays!

Best regards,

Course Tutor

Ps. If anyone would like to get there a few
minutes early to help me set up, I would appreciate that!

You
will need to bring:

Apron

Several tea towels, both to cover your
dough whilst it's proving and to wrap any warm bread in to take home.

Something to carry away the finished
products (a large basket or cardboard box lined with tea towels would be ideal)

0505 - Demonstration of my overnight, no-knead bread, that I’d made last
night – folding and shaping it

Rest of the session, while the bread is finishing baking:

Discussion, including: breadmaking rules - what makes a good baker - how to improve - good breadmaking habits (practice, practice, practice) - is there anything that would stop you making bread at home?

Homework – I’d like you to think of
someone, who doesn’t know how to make bread, who you could teach between now
and next Sunday

Breads for next week

Summary

Sunday 5th May

Well, that was the planning - and we pretty well stuck to it!

In the event, 11 out of the 12 turned up - one had some unavoidable family commitments. And next week we'll be missing Sue, who would rather go to New Zealand to visit her family than enjoy a second day's breadmaking!

The day got off to a splendid start - I was met at the front of the village hall by Jenny and her husband (Colin?), who helped set up the hall with tables, etc.

Very shortly after I arrived, just before 9.30, the students started arriving. I had loads of offers of help, so setting up was a doddle.

There were various levels of breadmaking experience within the group - most of the students had had a go at it, with the main requirement being to achieve a level of consistency.

Jim, Denise, Viv, Amanda, Michelle

Amanda, Viv, Julia, Sophia,Sue, Lavinia, Roger

...and Simon, on the end

Simon, eating a serious Chelsea bun!

Chelsea buns

Chelseas, fruit soda bread and several fancy dinner rolls

Two Swedish tea rings - to be dredged with icing sugar on arrival home

[It was decided to make sourdough on the second session. Here's the story of the starter - and the loaf, I made this week.]Sunday, 12th MayAnother wonderful day! Once again the students arrived early and I had many helping hands unloading my 5 ovens and all the equipment - bowls, jugs, etc.

0110 – Students follow suit - make their
own lunch. Lavinia makes a socca pancake

0130 – Making a sweet dough for PPs/JDs
(demonstrate jam tarts?) Put the dough to prove

0200 – Put the potatoes on to cook

0225 – Peirogi/pirotzkhi/parathas dough

(0230) – Start baking everyone’s lunch.

0300 – Lunch – but checking ovens/dough

0330 – Spelt bread – then,

0400 – Ciabatta

0425 – Bake the sourdough

0450 – Demonstration assembling a
‘no-knead, overnight’ bread

Admin

Homework – I’d like you to think of
someone, who doesn’t know how to make bread, that you could teach between now
and next Sunday

Final questions

Summary - closure

We began, as planned, with sourdough. 6 of the students had brought in their own starters, so I initially proposed that they should make a loaf using these - and the students who hadn't managed to make their own should use my starter.

In the event, the students with starters also wanted to make one using mine - and the students who had no starters were given some by the other students. So everyone made two sourdough loaves. Brilliant!

I was so impressed by the starters that students had made, I took a pic of them all - I'll try and remember whose was which:

Denise's

Viv's?

Amanda's?

Sophia's

Julia's

Lavinia's

These were put to one side to rise, while we got on with the rest of the programme.

We made the pane casereccio, which we were to have for lunch. I'd asked the students to bring some continental sausage and cheese - but they also brought tomatoes, mushrooms, harissa paste, pesto and smoked paprika. These were shared quite willingly between the students, there was a lovely atmosphere of co-operation and friendliness in the room!

I took advantage of Viv's harissa paste to accompany my polony and mushroom filling.

Once this was made and put to prove by the ovens, we went on to the sweet dough and made pain au chocolat and jam doughnuts.

I'm not sure of the running order any more, but at some time the lunch was baked and eaten, potatoes were peeled and boiled and mixed with grated cheese and curry powder - the filling for the parathas and pierogis. The parathas were fried and the pierogis - mostly - boiled.

Time precluded making the spelt bread, but we managed to make some socca pancakes - Lavinia has a problem with gluten, so making these gram flour wraps came in handy for her. Several other students had a go at making these, and everyone had a taste.

Lastly we had a bit of fun with the ciabatta. My version of this bread has an increased liquid content - 25% extra - which makes a semi-batter and is beaten entirely in the bowl. It's not easy to get this right, first time up, and a couple of the students got very stuck up indeed!

Eventually, all came right and they all turned out some lovely loaves.

Late on in the proceedings I realised I hadn't taken any pics - so I went round taking random photo's of anything of interest.